


For the Night Is Dark and Full of Terrors

by elirwen



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 11:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5161577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elirwen/pseuds/elirwen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bit of Halloween fun triggers the memories of Merlin's past life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For the Night Is Dark and Full of Terrors

**Author's Note:**

> The Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fans, I'm really sorry about the title. I just love that quote. :D

Darkness greets him as Merlin lets himself into Arthur's flat. He's not surprised. There hasn't been a single Halloween without Arthur and his gang trying to scare him by whichever post-apocalyptic scene they chose at the time.

He plays along, stumbling into the living room which is dimly lit by a single candle. 

“That's fire hazard right here!” he calls out, grinning, right before Arthur barrels into the room from the kitchen, pressing a hand to his side which is dark with either ketchup or corn syrup. 

“Run!” he shouts at Merlin and turns towards a new figure emerging from the kitchen.

It's hard to say who it is, his face covered by the cape, but he's holding a sword and stalking towards Arthur who is wielding a pan. Merlin smirks and folds his hands on his chest, waiting for the rest of the spectacle. 

Gwaine, Percival and Leon run out of Arthur's room, bright red capes flying behind them, swords at the ready, but they're too late. The attacker makes a sweeping gesture with his free hand and all three of them are 'tossed' onto nearby soft furniture. Arthur's pan is also 'torn out' of his grasp, landing a few inches from Merlin's feet. 

Arthur is backing away, his eyes scanning his surroundings for potential weapons.

“Fuck, Merlin, run!” he yells again, and damn, he's getting good at acting. 

The attacker takes the last few steps towards Arthur and sinks his retractable blade into Arthur's side. Arthur falls to the ground and Merlin suddenly feels dizzy. His head aches as it has never ached before and his knees buckle under him. 

He's filled with despair that feels foreign at first and then more and more like his own. Tears start flowing as he remembers the weight of Arthur dying in his arms. It doesn't make any sense, but it hurts. It hurts so much. His headache intensifies and he cries out, his mind filling with more images and emotions. 

He's vaguely aware of someone's hands on his face, on his body, slipping around his waist and pulling his towards warm embrace, but he can't think straight. He sees a blade sliding into Arthur's body again. He sees him crumble. It's the same as before. It's completely different. It hurts.

He sinks into the warm embrace and cries, trying to flood out the pain.

 

~x~

 

It seemed like a such a good idea. Arthur expected to hear Merlin's laughter after their little play ended, just like every other year. They never managed to scare him, whether they used the topic of ghosts, vampires, zombies, or deranged farmers. 

But instead of laughing, Arthur can hear a gasp and a thud a second later, and he hurries to get off the floor. Mordred has already pulled his hood down and crossed the few steps to get to Merlin who doesn't react to being touched on the shoulder or to his name being called. 

Arthur shuffles towards him on his knees and cups Merlin's face.

“Merlin, what's wrong? Talk to me!” he says, taking in the obvious pain visible on Merlin's face. “Are you hurt? Merlin!” 

There's no reaction except for Merlin breaking down even more. He would have fallen to the ground if Arthur didn't support him and hugged him close. After a few moments, Merlin relaxes into his hold and huge sobs start wracking his body. 

Arthur stares helplessly at the shocked faces of their friends who gathered around and obviously have as much idea about what happened as he does.

 

~x~ 

 

Panic slowly recedes and Merlin's thoughts slow down from the mad scramble of incomprehensibility to a normal speed which he is capable of following. He feels different, changed. He knows that what he saw and felt, Arthur's death in his arms and thousand other images, is true. He knows it all happened a very long time ago. He's also aware that he should question his sanity, but the steady weight of memories is too familiar to not be trusted. 

He's warm and comfortable, and for a moment he wonders if his new life wasn't just a dream, a way to escape the reality of life without Arthur. He tenses, scared that if he opens his eyes, that life will all go away.

“It's okay,” he hears Arthur's voice. “You're safe.” 

He relaxes once more as he feels Arthur's hand pet his back soothingly. 

 

~x~ 

 

When it becomes apparent that Merlin won't start reacting any time soon, Arthur carries him to his bed. He stays with him while the rest of the guys go to the living room after Arthur assures them several times that he'll call if he needs more help with Merlin. 

He can hear the muted sound of their conversation and later the movie they choose to watch.

Merlin appears to be trapped in a restless sleep and Arthur provides comfort in form of calming touches when Merlin's distress rises too much. Eventually, he also falls asleep.

It feels like just a few short seconds of sleep have passed when he's woken up by a bright light shining into his eyes. Since when does the sun shines into his room like this? He scrunches his nose and presses his face into Merlin's skin. But then he realizes that the glow didn't fade one bit.

He pulls away and blinks his eyes open.

He gasps, staring at the golden glow swirling around Merlin's whole body. “Merlin!” he yelps when it starts spreading onto him too.

 

~x~

 

Merlin smiles as he feels Arthur nuzzle into his shoulder. His warm bubble of contentment bursts when Arthur suddenly pulls away.

“Merlin!” he yelps and Merlin forces himself to open his eyes. 

He blinks sleepily at the glow covering his and Arthur's body. 

“Oh,” slips past his lips the moment everything clicks into place.

“Merlin?” Arthur sounds alarmed, trying to shake the light off his hand, but the movement ceases after a moment, Arthur's look turning dazed. 

“My king,” Merlin says, words slipping past his lips for the first time in over thousand years and there is faint recognition in Arthur's gaze. 

“Merlin,” Arthur breathes out, the sound heavy with freshly uncovered knowledge as the light creates an orb around them.

He presses his lips to Merlin's and the orb explodes, tiny tendrils of magic shooting into every direction. Merlin can feel his power shifting under his skin and grins into the kiss, letting Arthur take lead in what will undoubtedly end in a lot of pleasure and quite a few orgasms. 

 

~x~

 

Halfway through shoving Merlin's pants down his legs, loud yelling coming from the living room makes Arthur pause.

“I swear I don't want to kill him this time!” a slightly hysterical voice of Mordred rises above the general shouting of Arthur's most trusted knights who obviously remember their past too now, stunning them into silence.

Merlin laughs, loud and uninhibited. There are two lives of memories locked inside Arthur's head, yet this, Merlin free and happy, is completely new. 

Arthur vows to make it a regular sight.

**Author's Note:**

> [My tumblr.](http://elirwen.tumblr.com)
> 
> I know this fic is nothing special. (It might even suck.) But the scene wouldn't leave my head until I wrote it down. :)


End file.
